Complaints about OPs that are just Twitter links are WAY overstated!

[MineralMan]

41. They can, if they want to, of course.

I don't know how common that really is, nor how much it is used as a way to watch what employees are doing. That would take a lot of time, I'd think. More likely, it would be used when there is a problem and for a specific employee.

It's also easy for a business to monitor Internet usage and to log site visits on an individual basis. I'd think that would be more common.

Here's the deal for me: If I were working for a company, I'd be following that company's guidelines. If someone's paying me, I'm going to do whatever work they're paying me for. Even though I became permanently self-employed in 1974, I had worked for several companies before then. I always gave the effort the payment I got was worth, and probably a little more. If I was poorly paid, I delivered work that was worth about what I was being paid. If I was better paid, I delivered better work.

I remember a short-term job I had as a gas station attendant. It paid $2.00 per hour. One time, the owner of the station chided me for not selling more tires to customers who came in for gas. It was a full-service station, so checking air pressure was part of the service, especially if a tire looked low. We were supposed to look at tread depth, too, and sell tires fairly aggressively.

When the owner said that to me, I explained that if I sold a tire to a customer, I had to get it installed as quickly as possible, while still pumping gas and doing all those other services for gas customers. That meant running back and forth from the pumps to the shop area and busting my ass. "Why would I do that, for no additional monetary gain for me?" I asked him. I went on to say, "You pay me $2 an hour to show up and pump gas, along with the other gas lane stuff. I am happy to do that for that pay. If you want me to sell tires for you, then you're going to have to compensate me for the extra work added onto my other duties. About $2 per tire would get me selling tires for you."

He got it. From then on, I got $2 for each tire I sold and installed. I still didn't aggressively sell tire that weren't needed, but I sold and installed tires to customers who did need them. I had to educate the owner, though, so he'd understand what it was that he wanted might cost him a little more in my paycheck. He got it.